Protest Targets Kansas Sodomy Law

Self-proclaimed “sexual outlaws” rallied Saturday
against a Kansas law that criminalizes same-sex sodomy. “We cannot allow the
government to legislate our very own pleasure, our genitals, and our
bodies,” said Chantel Guidry, a feminist from Lawrence, in front of a crowd
of about 100 cheering protesters on the steps of the statehouse in Topeka.
Holding signs that read “Proud to be a sodomite” and “State of Kansas
out of our bedrooms,” protesters asked that the Kansas statute prohibiting
anal and oral sex between same-sex couples be repealed. Three other states ban
only same-sex sodomy: Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Both heterosexual and
homosexual sodomy are illegal in nine states.

“There seems to be no legitimate state interest for
this law at all,” said Christine Robinson, protest organizer and a
sociologist at the University of Kansas. “We can’t come up with any other
explanation except for bigotry.” Robinson said she organized the protest to
show state legislators that there is widespread support for overturning the
law if the U.S. Supreme Court fails to do so next month.

Two men from Texas are appealing their 1998 convictions
under that state’s law, claiming it unfairly targets gay people. If the
Supreme Court finds the Texas law unconstitutional, then the Kansas, Missouri,
and Oklahoma statutes would likewise be invalidated. “Hopefully, the Supreme
Court will rule in our favor, and we won’t have to deal with legislators,”
said Steve Brown, president of the Kansas Democratic Party
Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Caucus.